I'm playing with some of the same issues with my camper. I get about 50MPG clean in my 2003 Civic Hybrid and 30 MPG towing my teardrop camper at 60MPH in 4th gear.
I was thinking about some sort of rubber sheet wrapped around the front of camper and the back of the car. You could use cargo ratchet straps or even bungee cords if more elasticity was needed for turns etc.
Alternatively, I wondered about a v-shaped tongue box that would double as storage space ? I also thought about a plywood fairing that I could install on the back when I'm towing and would strap down to the trunk lid like a bicycle rack or even attach to the bike rack that is already there?
I would love to be able to cruise in 5th gear, although at 2,000 RPM the engine still is probably not turning enough to power that load in 5th, will have to see.
